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With a tentative deal reached, dockworkers in U.S. West Coast ports have begun unloading cargo once again.

But the backlog is substantial, leaving experts to speculate that it could take as many as eight weeks before efforts are normalized and freight begins to move again at a predictable pace.

Shipping companies and dockworkers reached a tentative labor deal late on Friday after nine months of negotiations, “settling a dispute that disrupted the flow of cargo through 29 U.S. West Coast ports and snarled trans-Pacific maritime trade with Asia,” Reuters reports.

The agreement came three days after U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez arrived in San Francisco to broker a compromise.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the shippers’ bargaining agent, the Pacific Maritime Association, agreed to “fully restore all port operations” starting on the evening of February 21, according to Reuters.

The White House called the deal “a huge relief” for the economy, businesses and workers.

Port officials estimate it will take six to eight weeks to clear the backlog of cargo containers on the docks and several months for freight traffic to resume a normal rhythm.

Perez told reporters that the principal sticking point involved the arbitration system for resolving workplace disputes under the contract.

The 20,000 dockworkers who staged slowdowns at ports up and down the western coast of the U.S. have been without a contract since July.

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